As Fighter Pilot, Wtvj's Shepard Breaks, Makes News

Most TV news people kick back and catch a breath after the ratings wars of the May sweeps. WTVJ-Ch. 4 reporter-anchor Willard Shepard is heading for a real war.

Shepard, of Weston, is a captain in the Air Force Reserve. He flies an A-10 single-seater fighter jet. His two-week summer camp this year will be spent in the skies over the former Yugoslavia, providing cover for United Nations troops in what has once again become an escalating conflict.

Shepard, who was on the air Friday, leaves today for his base in Louisiana. He expects to be bound for Aviano, Italy, on Sunday and flying combat missions by Monday. He knows the drill. He spent last August doing the same thing. In 1991, he flew 52 combat missions during Desert Storm. He was working at a Cleveland TV station then. He has been with WTVJ for a year and a half.

"One day I was reporting on the war, the next day I was in it. My unit was the first ever to get called up for combat. Most reservists fly transport planes. My job was to take out tanks and artillery."

Any close calls?

"It's hard to say. Most of what they shoot at you, you never see."

In the Gulf War, Shepard at least had an idea who was shooting at him. In the Bosnia conflict, any of the three warring factions - the Serbs, the Croats and the Muslims - could be throwing flak. "It all depends which one of them is ticked off at the U.N. on that day," Shepard said.

The factions might have the image of a ragtag bunch, Shepard said, but they are well-armed. "They have a lot of sophisticated weapons the Russians used to provide to Yugoslavia. When the country fell apart, everyone grabbed what they could."

Shepard got into flying fighter jets because he felt there was no security in television.

"In the early '80s I was working for a station in New Orleans and I noticed how crazy the TV business is. So I began looking for something to fall back on," he said. "I thought about law school but I figured that's at least $30,000 out of my own pocket and there are 40,000 new lawyers every year. I heard about this Air Force program where you could do two years active duty and then move into the Reserve. I was always interested in aviation. My first job was with TWA" - as a gate attendant - "so I applied. But the competition is intense. It took me three years to get accepted for pilot training."

In addition to his summer duty, Shepard is required to practice flying five days a month.

Shepard, who hopes to be able to file stories for NBC and WTVJ during his tour, is not a typical weekend warrior, especially in the Air Force.

"Almost all of the other guys in my unit are commercial airline pilots. Some of them are there already," he said. "I told my commander that I was in a ratings war back home, so they let me serve my duty now."

When his colleagues go home, they tell war stories to entertain friends. Shepard will do it for a living.